Image of Small and Medium Enterprise Entrepreneurs with Ethical Business Framework in the Northeastern Region of Thailand
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/nrru-rdi.2024.4Keywords:
Entrepreneur Image, Ethical Business Framework, Small Entrepreneurs, Medium-Sized Entrepreneurs, Business EthicsAbstract
The proper conduct of businesses in accordance with optical principles, politeness, and confidence aligns with social norms and standards. This study, employing a quantitative research approach, aimed to investigate personal characteristics affecting the ethical business framework, and find out influence and relation with the overall image of medium and small entrepreneurs within the ethical business framework in the Northeastern region of Thailand. The research involved a sample group of 400 participants, selected through multi-stage random sampling. Data was collected using a questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.963. The instruments used were online questionnaire with a response rate of 37.50% (150 respondents). Statistical analysis was conducted to determine the data using percentages, means, standard deviations, t-test statistics, One-Way Analysis of Variance, Multiple linear Regression, and correlations. The research findings indicated that 1) Personal characteristics, including gender, age, types of medium and small-sized businesses, and the duration of business operations, were not significantly differed in influencing the overall image. 2) The ethical business framework, consist of social responsibility, marketing, management, and environmental dimensions, positively correlated with the overall image at the moderate to the highest level (r=0.577-0.861). This relationship was statistically significant at the 0.01 level. The ethical business framework that influenced the overall image can be forecasted on two aspects: (1) social responsibility results increased one unit affecting to a 0.295 unit increase in the overall image. Likewise, (2) a one-unit also increased in the influence of the ethical business framework on marketing leaded to a 0.266 unit increase in the overall image. As a result, business owners must be aware of applying ethical business principles in their operations to build trust, credibility, and good partnerships with customers and the community.
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